BCA - Stay Safe

Overview

Guide

Video

Out of Bounds, Sidecountry, Slackcountry: It’s All Backcountry

Riding out of bounds, “sidecountry,” and “slackcountry” have all become more popular in recent years, and some skiers and riders make the mistake of thinking these areas are safer than the backcountry. They aren’t.

Learn the basics of beacon searching with the team from Backcountry Access. Before traveling into the winter backcountry be sure to take an avalanche class.

Video

The Companion Rescue Series - Strategic Probing 101

This video takes you through the pinpointing or probing stage of an avalanche rescue. This is not a substitute for an avalanche class. Get educated before heading into the winter backcountry.

Video

The Companion Rescue Series - Strategic Shoveling 101

Shoveling is the most time consuming phase of an avalanche rescue. This video takes you through some basic shoveling techniques using 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 shovelers. Be sure to take an avalanche class before heading into the winter backcountry.

Video

Out of Bounds, Sidecountry, Slackcountry: It’s All Backcountry

Riding out of bounds, “sidecountry,” and “slackcountry” have all become more popular in recent years, and some skiers and riders make the mistake of thinking these areas are safer than the backcountry. They aren’t.

Find An Avalanche Educator Near You

Multiple Burials: Staying Out of the Headlines

Are multiple fatalities in avalanche accidents becoming more common? And should this influence your decision when you’re buying snow safety equipment? Let’s look at the statistics, the gear, and the realities around multiple burials.

The Companion Rescue Series - Beacon Searching 101

Learn the basics of beacon searching with the team from Backcountry Access. Before traveling into the winter backcountry be sure to take an avalanche class.

The Companion Rescue Series - Strategic Probing 101

This video takes you through the pinpointing or probing stage of an avalanche rescue. This is not a substitute for an avalanche class. Get educated before heading into the winter backcountry.

The Companion Rescue Series - Strategic Shoveling 101

Shoveling is the most time consuming phase of an avalanche rescue. This video takes you through some basic shoveling techniques using 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 shovelers. Be sure to take an avalanche class before heading into the winter backcountry.

The Prevention Series - Packing for the Backcountry

Backcountry Access Snow Safety Series highlights Climbing Life Guide Eli Helmuth as he walks you through what he brings in his pack on a regular outing in the backcountry. Eli has many years of experience guiding, teaching, and responding to accidents in the backcountry.

The Prevention Series - Tour Planning

A well laid plan is the best prevention when it comes to traveling in avalanche terrain. This video explores reading an avalanche forecast, using maps to plan a ski tour, trailhead safety checks, group management and finally, the best part of backcountry skiing, powder!

The Prevention Series - Sleducation

Backcountry Access brings you Mike Duffy, owner and lead educator at www.avalanche1.com, as he walks you through his backcountry safety protocol, specifically for the sledding crowd. Duffy walks you through how to carry your safety gear, how to ride based on the avalanche conditions, and how to keep you and your friends making the right decisions in the backcountry.

About Backcountry Access

While skiing Berthoud Pass in 1994, Bruce Edgerly was completely buried in an avalanche. This harrowing experience prompted Bruce to contact Bruce McGowan, inventor of the Backcountry Trekker ski touring binding adapter. Together they founded Backcountry Access, a company whose number one goal is to make backcountry skiing safer. Bruce and Bruce got right to work on their flagship product—the BCA Tracker avalanche beacon. The beacon was released in 1997 and became an instant hit with backcountry enthusiasts because it was so easy to use, even under stressful, hurried conditions.

Today, Backcountry Access carries a full line of backcountry safety equipment. In addition to beacons, shovels and probes, BCA has developed the latest in airbag technology that is designed to keep an avalanche victim on top of the snow and out of harm's way. The Float airbag backpacks, which inflate with the assistance of a compressed air cylinder, also protect the wearer from blunt force trauma.

BCA also manufactures the BC Link, a radio to help you keep in contact with your group and optimized for use with BCA's new line of Stash backpacks. BCA even carries a full line of portable snow study tools designed to allow backcountry skiers to determine how safe a slope is before they drop in.

BCA realizes that, with the development of life-saving products comes a certain responsibility to educate, and to that end it has fulfilled its responsibility in spades. Not only does BCA's site feature educational material and several snow safety videos, but the company has set up more than 60 beacon training parks across the USA to help people practice with their beacons. Other resources that BCA has sponsored include beacon checkpoints at backcountry gates, and financial support to youth-oriented safety programs. In fact, Bruce Edgerly says that they now consider education just as important in the backcountry as a beacon, shovel, or probe. Coming from the guys who make the equipment, that says a lot.

The folks at BCA look at their jobs as much more than selling products: they're saving lives. Through research, education, and innovation, Backcountry Access is making backcountry skiing a safer, more accessible sport for all of us.

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